Four month bandiversary!

So today is my four month bandiversary.  I don't know how to feel.  My loss has been slower than I had hoped, but it is still loss, and I won't complain about that.  Seriously - I could still be ol' Fatty Fatterson at my decision weight!! 

But Now I'm realizing I have only lost 20 pounds since my surgery.  Is this good or bad??  On the good side, my blood pressure is normal without meds - that's HUGE for me.  When I went to the doctor 2 weeks ago it was 100/70 - that's like skinny chick BP!!  On the bad side, I have only averaged 5 pounds a month since surgery.  Hmmm.  Maybe I'm just down in the dumps today.

Work has been busy and stressful.  I won't say any more.  Grad school is good.  I have 2 weeks left in this 8 week session and I am sooooo glad!!  This teacher is a nit-picker.  And honestly, I want to punch her in the face.  I'm going to get a B.  It's not what I wanted, but I will accept it and move on!  I am taking 2 classes next term and they are both math based, so I am glad to be getting back to what I like.  My bachelor's degrees are in accounting and financial management.

My brother and niece are coming on Monday and I have the whole week off.  Boy do I need it!!  We are going to the beach and I can't wait.  My niece can't stop talking about the beach - she's excited too! 

I have been trying to make good food choices, and really focus on protein and water.  I think it's working because I am dropping pounds and sizes now.  I bought something in "normal" size at Old Navy this weekend!!  Granted, they are stretchy material, and it's an XXL, but I was wearing 4X before my decision to have surgery.

Oh!!  Here's the promised pic of me and my new hot wheels!!  LOL!  It's so cute!!  And GREAT on gas!

And yes, that IS a cheeseburger on my husband's car in the background.  Temptation anyone??  LOL!

I hope everyone out there in blog land is happy and healthy.  I will post some pics from my vacation next week (and hopefully be in better spirits.)  I think I just need a nap!  Love and sunshine from Florida!!

A downward trend....

So I know I said I was only going to weigh on Wednesdays to keep from getting obsessed.  But you didn't think I was serious right???  I usually sneak one in on Saturdays.

I think I am finally back on track with my eating - still need to drink more water (especially now that I feel like I'm getting a bladder infection, gross.)

I just weighed and it says 317!!  Woo hoo!  This is the weight I was when I went for my first lap band consult in 2006.  If only I had been ready then, I wouldn't have ever gotten to my miserable 369 pounds.  Thank God for my band.  I am living my life on my terms again - this fat will NO LONGER rule my days. 

Time for a mini goal - I am flying to see my best friend in Chicago for Memorial Day weekend.  I had originally said I wanted to be 275 that weekend, but I don't see that happening.  Now I would like to set an NSV goal instead.  I want to fly without the seat belt extender.  It will be mine, oh yes, it will be mine!!

Congrats to Ronnie on getting to 50 pounds down!! 

Anyways chickies - I'm off to the vet with Buddy and then car shopping.  Fun day!  Love and sunshine from sunny FL!

Back to the gym and 50 POUNDS (revisited)!!

So - as you may have guessed, I have lost the elusive 1 pound and I am back down to 319 (50 pounds lost.)  No more binge drinking for me...lol (wow - I just sounded like an alcoholic!)

I finally got back into the gym tonight after almost 2 weeks.  I refuse to complain about my crazy job in this post, but if you have been following, you will remember how crazy things have been.  It felt to good to get back and I did 30 minutes of cardio and then an hour with my trainer.  She really whipped my hiney tonight.  I was surprised because everything felt light on my normal settings tonight.  Alex says I "came back strong"  LOL.  But seriously - I was like super Melissa tonight!!

I am STILL struggling to get into a routine with my cardio at home.  It seems even more hard to get it in now that I have to focus on school work at night too.  Thank God I have lost weight and have more energy - a year ago I would be sleeping right now from everything I'm trying to cram in my days.

We had a pizza lunch today at work.  I ate one piece of pizza - I can't remember in my whole life before the band being able to be satisfied with ONE piece of pizza.  It was such a great realization - looking down at that second piece on my plate and just not wanting it.  I love my band.

That being said - I think I am almost ready for another fill.  I don't know if it's soon, or the right time, or what.  I have 4.4 cc's from my first fill on 2/21.  What do you guys think?  Let's talk about "restriction."  Is it real or just a state of mind?  I know what "stuck" feels like, but I just don't know if what I experience when I eat can be called restriction.

Do you guys eat pineapple?  I read somewhere that some bandsters can't.  I have discovered a true love for pineapple - it's so good, and it keeps me not hungry for HOURS.  What do you guys eat that keeps you satisfied for a long time?? 

I'm going car shopping this weekend - I will post pics of me in my new ride!!  Hope all is well in band land for all my lovely friends.  Stay strong!!  Super Melissa, signing off.

Weigh in Wednesday

Hello my dears.  I have missed you terribly, did you notice I was gone??  LOL. 

Well, the last few weeks have been...eventful.

Work is still crazy.  My ops manager is back after 3 weeks travelling, and it's nice to have him there to shoulder some of the things that were driving me crazy.  Honestly, we are such a close-knit team at work that's it's just stressful when one of us is missing.  Plus we are doing samples for the High Point Furniture Market, and that is always a crazy time.

I had my first puking experience with the band...yuck.  Casey and I both had the stomach flu last weekend.  It was a short spell, thank goodness.  Mine started Sunday at about 7 PM and I only threw up once.  It was pretty awful, but not as bad as I was afraid it would be.  I think the worst part was the panic about what could happen to my band.  I called the fill doc first thing on Monday and she called some anti-nausea meds in for me.  When I found out they were suppositories, I willed myself to not be sick anymore.  Exit only folks, exit only.

I am one pound away from working off the SEVEN POUNDS that I gained on my night of drinking with friends - it's only been a friggin' month.  So I am back down to 49 pounds lost.  Putting this into perspective...this is 25% of my ultimate goal for my loss.  And it's over one third of the loss I need to reach the goal the nutritionist set for me.  I think that is AWESOME if I do say so myself!!  Not too shabby for 5 months since my decision to have surgery.

I have made some crappy food decisions during my last three weeks of work stress.  Realization made, now moving forward.  I am trying to get more water in - not doing too bad.  I probably get about 60 ounces every day.

We went to the beach last weekend - the same day as the puking, but earlier in the day.  LOL.  It was the weekend that the moon was so big, and the tides were crazy.  Check out this cool shot of the underwater jetty that was out of the water because the tide was so low:

Pretty awesome.  Now that spring is here I'm hoping to get some wear out of the ton of bathing suits I bought last year - before they are too big.  So hopefully We'll be spending more time at the beach.  We cancelled our cruise, but we're going to beach it with my brother and neice when they are here in May.  I'm super excited!
Well my friends in blog land, it's nighty night time again!  Keep up the good work!  We are all awesome for changing our lives - that means you!!!

Weigh in Wednesday!!

Ok, so I know it's Thursday and I'm a day late, but let's just pretend.

This week has been crazy.  Work is really stressful right now. I discovered last night that my band does not like stress and anger mixed together.  I had a little verbal altercation with one of our salesmen, and I was so mad!!  Well, when I hung up the phone I was almost doubled over from my stomach hurting.  You know the expression "my stomach is in knots"?  I never understood that till last night.

 I have gained 4 pounds.  Let me explain...last Friday we decided to go out for some drinks.  And some drinks turned into LOTS of drinks.  When I weighed on Saturday I was back up SEVEN pounds!!  LMAO!! 

So I've lost 3 of those pounds during the week, and I am not kicking myself.  But I know I have to not do that again (I had a totally awesome time though!)

I haven't posted any pictures for a while, and I have never taken shots of myself to show body shape and stuff, so here we go.

Her's a pic of my scars.  The fill doctor told me I had healed really well, and I agree.  And no one but Casey is ever going to see this in person...

Stretch marks are stylish...if we keep saying that, maybe it will catch on!!

So I just took these and I am in my gym clothes, so excuse my Hot-Mess-Ness.

I SUPER DUPER hate the side view, but I am a work in progress, and soon enough I will be "High School Fine" as we like to say in my office.  Even though I was fat in high school, so I think I'd like to be "Finer than High School Fine"  LOL!
I think I am going to have to have the panniculectomy once I lose my weight.  I already feel like I have a big sagging fold of skin from just the weight I have lost.  I don't even want to think about what it will be like in the future.  But I'm not scared of cosmetic surgery (except for the price tag.)

Casey and I are going on a weekend cruise to the Bahamas at the end of April - the beach I want to go to in Nassau is a mile and a half walk from the ship.  So I am walking 1.5 on the treadmill every day between now and then to prepare.  It's a good goal 'cause at the end I get the beach!!

So - lessons learned this week...
#1 - Though drinking is fun, it is not a good match when you are trying to lose weight!
#2 - Maintain low stress/anger levels = happy band
#3 - Don't look at pictures of yourself in your workout clothes if you ever want to wear them to the gym again (LOL)

Love and kisses from Sunny FL - Good night beautiful ladies!!

Weigh in Wednesday....50 pounds!!

Well, I guess the title kind of spoils my good news, but seriously....50 Freakin' pounds, people!! 

I have been so busy I feel like I haven't even had time to relish in my accomplishmnet.  But I have to admit, it feels so good.  This means I am averaging 10 pounds per month, and not too shabby since I just had my first fill last week!

I am still struggling with getting into a routine with my cardio every day.  I guess it's just like weight loss - a marathon, not a sprint.  I drive an hour to and from work and some nights I only want to crawl in to bed when I get home.  I'm nowhere near as exhausted as I was 50 pounds ago, but I still have those days.
And I'm getting ready to add to the load - school starts on the 21st.  I'll be doing online classes for the first 2 eight week sessions, so hopefully I can kick my own butt back into study mode.

Now let's talk bacon.....

I've always thought turkey bacan was supposed to be so much better for you.  Well, paint my door red and call me Elizabeth Arden...I was looking at center cut bacon versus turkey bacon and there's really very little difference.  Of course turkey bacon has a little less fat per serving.  But is it better to save the fat, or eat a more natural food?  I think I lean towards real bacon - just becasue I can't really invision how a turkey gets from being our feathered freind to looking like bacon.

What do you guys think?  Which do you prefer (if you are a carnivore like me) and why?

I have been loving the season right now in Florida - strawberries are soooo good right now.  Greek yogurt, strawberries or blueberries and a little granola have been the breakfast of choice in my house for the last week. 

We are thinking about going on a 3 day cruise at the end of April.  I really need to get away - and the beach calls to me! 

Hope all is well in Blog land.  Welcome new followers.  If you follow me and I'm not following you, please let me know.  I need to spend some time catching up with everyone's news.  I'm so proud of everyone and all we are accomplishing.  2011 is our year!!  TTFN!!

First Fill News

I had my first fill yesterday.  I made my appointment a few weeks ago and I have to say it was so easy.  The whole FillCentersUSA thing seemed a little scary to me.  I wish I could go back and forth to the OCC to have my aftercare, but I knew that wasn't a reality when I got into this.

Casey went with me - I made him drive (like always!)  Google said it was 2 hours and 4 munites to St. Pete, but when we got in the car at 8:30 my GPS said we would be there at 10 something.  It really is a nice drive too...you have to drive over this reeeeeaaaalllllyyyy long land bridge thingy and you're surrounded by water.  I pretended my car was a ship and I was on a very short cruise..LOL!!

So we go there early and I did paperwork and then they weighed me (drumroll please)  I am down to 322!!  HOLY SCHNEIKES BATMAN!!  That's a total loss of 47 pounds - 12 since surgery.  This is very good news.  They use the same scale Dr. Miranda used before my surgery - the one that prints out the little ticket with all your stats.  I looked and thought it said my body fat was 176% and I CRACKED UP!!  Only me...

The lady that does the fills is a board certified LPN or something of the sort.  She was very nice - and she does fills under fluoro, which is why I chose her instead of the one closer to me.

I laid on the table - she found my port, put the needle in and had me sit up.  I have to say - it felt a little wierd.  I guess the reality of a foreign object in my body finally hit me when I could feel the port as she accessed it.  I felt her prime my band by putting fluid in and then taking it out.  Then she had me sip water and she filled.  I ended up with 4.4cc's.  Which is a little more than I figured I would get.

The whole thing took about 15 minutes. 

I feel a little yucky today.  I think it may be from being back on liquids.  Have I mentioned I hate soup??
I went to the gym tonight, but when I got on the treadmill to warm up I just felt crappy.  My trainer said she didn't want to work out if she had to go easy on me, so we cancelled tonight.  I was kind of glad...I'm super tired.

I hope everyone out there in Band Land is doing well...every day gets us closer to our goals, you know!  Nighty Night Beautiful Girls!!!